Civilian supremacy<\/p>\n
One would have thought that the question about civilian
\nsupremacy over the military has already been settled, because
\nthat is what Indonesia needs in order to build a truly democratic
\nsociety. The national consensus has been that the military, which
\nfor many years enjoyed wide-ranging powers up until 1998, must
\nnow be brought under the control of the elected civilian
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
In our envisaged democratic system, the military is
\naccountable to the president, as the TNI supreme commander, who
\nin turn is accountable to the people.<\/p>\n
The draft of legislation on the Indonesian Military (TNI),
\nprepared by the Ministry of Defense, has now unnecessarily
\nreopened that debate, again consuming our time and energy.<\/p>\n
The draft, the content of which was leaked to the media last
\nweek, shows a new attempt by the TNI to regain the political
\npower it enjoyed for more than 30 years during the Soeharto
\nregime. One contentious article in the draft bill states that the
\nTNI chief has the power to mobilize troops in times of emergency,
\nonly needing to notify the president after 24 hours.<\/p>\n
This article clearly violates the principle of civilian
\nsupremacy, for it allows the TNI chief to subvert the power of
\nthe president. Many fear that this article could be used to lend
\nlegitimacy to a TNI coup against an elected government.<\/p>\n
And it goes against the Constitution, which states that the
\npresident has the power to declare a war, and therefore to order
\nthe deployment of troops, and even then only with the approval of
\nthe House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
By inserting this particular clause in the draft legislation,
\nthe TNI wants to have it both ways. It wants to be the one who
\ncalls the shots as well as the one who pulls the trigger. Since
\nthe TNI is not subject to democratic checks and balances, this
\nlaw gives it an omnipotent power that not even the president
\nenjoys.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, this is only a draft bill, which is still in the
\nvery early stage of the process. It has not even reached the
\nHouse of Representatives.<\/p>\n
This draft was prepared by TNI officers at the Ministry of
\nDefense who were assisted by a number of civilian experts.
\nLooking at the content of the draft, it appears to have been
\nwritten in the spirit of promoting the interests of the TNI,
\nwhich are not necessarily in the best interests of the nation.<\/p>\n
The article retaining the territorial function and structure
\nof the Army is further evidence of its antireform spirit.
\nAlthough the TNI will no longer have representatives sitting in
\nthe legislatures after 2004, it still wields immense political
\npowers through its huge network of territorial commands.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear where this draft is going to next.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Defense's team apparently has two options, to
\nlet the government pick it up and present it to the House; or to
\nseek sponsors from friends in the House of Representatives, who
\nwould present it to the House as their own initiative.<\/p>\n
Given the strong antireform spirit of the draft, neither the
\ngovernment nor the House members should take over the bill from
\nthe Ministry of Defense's hands. Instead, the process should be
\nrestarted. They should write their own draft, keeping in mind the
\nneed to ensure civilian supremacy, and bring in TNI experts only
\nto advise them on military technical matters.<\/p>\n
As time wasting as this debate about civilian supremacy may
\nseem, this episode has given us a rare glimpse of the mind-set of
\nmany of the officers currently in charge of the TNI. Their
\nattitude toward reform and their strong contempt for the civilian
\ngovernment are simply disturbing.<\/p>\n
This is unfortunate because the TNI has been very progressive
\nin conducting internal reform these last five years, at times
\neven outpacing its civilian counterparts. Witness its decision
\nlast year to end its representation in the national and regional
\nlegislatures as of 2004, instead of 2009 as originally scheduled.<\/p>\n
Having gone this far in the process of internal TNI reform, it
\nis sad to see that the progress it has made in the last five
\nyears is now being squandered or rolled back. If the bill is
\nallowed to proceed beyond its present stillborn stage, it will be
\na tragic and sad loss for both the TNI and the nation. It will
\nprobably mark the end of reform.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/civilian-supremacy-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}